Our City Forest honors '20 years of volunteers'

(File Photo by Erin Day/June 23, 2003)
Cleaves Avenue is lined with yarwood sycamore trees (left), which were planted by Our City Forest back in 2003 in memory of Sept. 11 victims. Our City Forest has planted around 3,000 memorial trees throughout San Jose.

Whether they be Tree Amigos, community volunteers or site coordinators, San Jose residents who have helped keep Our City Forest in the tree-planting business for 20 years are being honored on Aug. 2 for their commitment to urban forestry.

In all, about 50 residents will be feted at the "Twenty Years of Volunteers" event.

While the nonprofit relies on volunteers to plant and care for city trees, residents turn to Our City Forest to help save them from untimely ends. Franquette Avenue resident Catherine Lydon became an OCF volunteer last year, when a development threatened three trees in her Willow Glen neighborhood that were all large enough to be protected under a city ordinance.

Lydon and her neighbor Bobbie Wood spearheaded a campaign to save the redwood, oak and cedar trees, although Lyndon says, "It was definitely a neighborhood effort to show up to three different planning commission meetings."

Lydon marked her neighborhood's victory in a July 13, 2013, letter to the Resident, in which she also encouraged other San Joseans to take an active interest in their local street trees.

"Had we not spoken up about the significant value the mature trees add to our community, and the need for more oversight in the approval process, we would be looking at three identical homes on our historic street, with only one mature tree between them," she wrote.

Lydon credits OCF with helping her to mount a successful campaign.

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"Our urban canopy is really important, and [OCF] provides the resources ... to help people save trees," she says.

Other Willow Glen residents work more directly with the Our City Forest organization. Carol Arnoldy spends her Thursdays volunteering at OCF's Spring Street Nursery, while Anna Jacobs recently joined the organization's board of directors.

Jacobs began her association with OCF in 2002 as a Tree Amigo, completing a 20-hour training course that covers everything from how and where to plant trees to coaching other volunteers. Once she completed the course, she supervised two or three plantings a month for senior and disabled residents until the pace started getting to her.

"I'm going to be 45," Jacobs says. "Physical labor is a bit more difficult, so I joined the board."

The longtime volunteer says she likes that OCF's efforts are local. "Having a healthy environment is vital," she adds.

Barking for Trees

For Jim LaFrom, a healthy environment is important for both two-legged and four-legged San Jose residents. When a dog park was built at Butcher Park eight years ago, developers removed most of the trees from the site.

"Dogs weren't comfortable in the summer," LaFrom says.

He contacted San Jose's Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services department, which referred him to OCF. Staff there helped him organize a group of 18 people to plant 20 trees around the dog park's perimeter.

"It was a great experience," LaFrom recalls. "It's a very helpful organization."

And the trees?

"They're growing and doing well," LaFrom reports.

The OCF is honoring LaFrom as an Outstanding Site Coordinator. Cambrian area Tree Amigos being honored include Jan Pfiffner and the mother-daughter team of Kathy and Megan McEvers. Almaden area volunteers receiving kudos include Magesh Jayapandian, Kian Nasiri and Dave Fadness.

Rose Garden resident Nanette Smith is being recognized for coordinating a tree planting in the Midtown-Sunol area.

"Midtown-Sunol needs lots of trees, and it's exciting to see neighborhood coordinators get involved," Berry says. The CEO adds that OCF sees about 5,000 community volunteers each year.

"They're important to us because they're important to the trees," she says. "We want them to be invested by giving them a role in developing the urban forest."